The present invention relates generally to a torque limiting power transfer mechanism for agricultural equipment and, more particularly, to a slip clutch with a swivel mechanism to facilitate the connection of the drive shaft of pull-type harvesting machines to the power takeoff shaft on the tractor providing the source of motive power.
It is well known that clutches provide a torque limiting capability for drive lines on harvesting machines to protect the various components under conditions where excessive amounts of power are required, such as when the harvesting machine has plugged with crop. In pull-type agricultural equipment, it is necessary to connect the power input shaft of the machine to the power takeoff shaft of the tractor. Since the power takeoff shaft usually has of a non-circular cross-sectional configuration, e.g., a splined or hexagonal shape, to provide a positive driving connection between the power takeoff shaft and the drive shaft, it will often be necessary to physically turn the drive shaft until it is aligned with the shape of the power takeoff shaft so that they can be connected.
Since the drive shaft is connected to the driven components of the pull-type agricultural machine, it becomes necessary to rotate these driven components when the drive shaft is turned to align it with the power takeoff shaft. Due primarily to the increasing sizes of harvesting machines, resulting in more massive driven components, it can be particularly difficult to align the drive shaft with the tractor's power takeoff and drivingly connect the harvesting machine to the tractor. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a mechanism that would easily and conveniently permit the drive shaft of a pull-type agricultural harvesters to be aligned with the power takeoff shaft of the tractor providing the source of motive power.